With hundreds of fans and coaches packed into MIT's gem of a pool house and screams synchronized to every breath ricocheting off the walls, the women's swimming and diving team took center stage against some of the best competitors from across the region. At the end of the two-day meet in Cambridge, the excitement over their results far exceeded the atmosphere in the pool house for the Jumbos, as Tufts rolled to a second-place finish in the seven-team MIT Invitational.
"The louder it is in the gym, the more excited you get," senior tri-captain Kayla Burke said. "The atmosphere there was fantastic. I looked at the girls who were performing well and it really helped us feed off each other. Some of our best times were at the end of the meet, so that just came from having the team behind you the entire time."
The Jumbos tallied 700 points throughout the meet, second only to the 970.5 posted by Invitational-winner NYU, a team that began training two months before the Tufts squad. But the Jumbos trumped host MIT, a feat that evaded the team in recent years.
By capturing second, Tufts also surpassed NESCAC rivals Bowdoin and Colby, as well as Wheaton and Brandeis, a team the Jumbos defeated in a dual meet Nov. 23.
"Our kids really stepped it up this weekend, especially under the tough conditions with exams coming up and our meet on Wednesday," coach Nancy Bigelow said. "They were all feeling fatigued toward the end because 27 hours in this place is a lot of swimming. But top to bottom, we exceeded our expectations and certainly rose to the challenge today."
Sophomore Maureen O'Neill, a three-time winner in freestyle events, led the way for Tufts, racking up crucial points for her squad. Never shying away from the photo finish, O'Neill took first in both the 50-yard freestyle, winning by .36 seconds, and the 100, touching the wall 0.11 seconds ahead of her nearest competitor.
O'Neill was also the anchor leg of the 200-yard freestyle relay, joining freshmen Courtney Adams, Paulina Ziolek and Valerie Eacret to finish first by 0.07 seconds. O'Neill's 24.44 final split allowed the Jumbos to surge ahead and narrowly escape Wheaton's A team.
"She's a sophomore, but all of the freshmen on the relay clearly look up to her as their leader," Burke said of O'Neill. "As a freshman, it can be stressful because there is a lot of pressure to do well, so they need upperclassmen like her to handle it as an example."
Juniors Lindsay Gardel and Kelsey Bell took first and second place, respectively, in both the 1- and 3-meter dives, earning the Jumbos crucial points early on in the Invitational. The 800-yard freestyle relay team of Eacret, freshmen Annie Doisneau and Kathryn Russell and sophomore Megan Kono took first, distancing itself from the rest of the pack by more than three seconds.
Kono, the Tufts record holder in the 1,000- and 1,650-yard freestyles, narrowly missed out on becoming a dual winner on the weekend, finishing behind only NYU's Margaret Rippe in the 500-yard freestyle.
Other notable performances for the Jumbos included Eacret's second-place finish in the 100-butterfly and Doisneau's second-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle, which bested her closest opponent by just under one second. Additionally, senior tri-captain Katie Swett took second in the 200-yard breaststroke, while the 400-yard freestyle relay team of Doisneau, Adams, Eacret and O'Neill finished runner-up in the event by 0.57 seconds.
"It was really a group effort," Swett said. "Not only do we have depth, we have great swimmers. In the past, we would have one person win two events but not much else. Now, the depth combined with talent is really helping us this year."
Tufts will take a break from the water for the holiday season, returning to competition on Jan. 17 with a tri-meet at national powerhouse Williams with Wesleyan. Bigelow, however, assured that her team will be aptly prepared for the heightened competition, as the Jumbos will take a two-week training trip to Puerto Rico in early January.
"The trip is kind of like hell week in football for us, but it only makes us stronger," Swett said. "We're done with finals, so we don't have to worry about homework or papers, so it allows us to focus on swimming and put all our effort into the team. In the end, it always pays off."
When faced with more crucial NESCAC meets, the team's ability to rally around each other will take precedence. That was evident throughout the weekend, and the Jumbos believe their stellar performance is a sign of good things to come in 2009.
"A big part of our success [Saturday] was the support felt from other people on the team," Bigelow said. "When you get on the block, you're excited, but you also feel like the rest of the team is there swimming with you. This meet definitely motivated us, gave us a great sense of confidence going into next year. People are going to train harder because they believe in themselves, and this meet definitely gave us the confidence we need."
"This was absolutely a great weekend -- we exceeded our expectations by far," Burke said. "It was exciting and it definitely made everyone that much more excited for NESCACs. We just need to keep swimming through the break, stay in shape and come back and take on the other NESCAC schools. In a way, we feel unstoppable right now."
